OSC Gives Boost in the Fight Against COVID-19

Entrepreneurs and innovators all across Ohio are stepping up to help fight Covid-19.

Since the early days of the pandemic, Ohio’s most powerful computing resource, the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC), has been conducting numerous research projects to help assess what comes next and how tech companies can move forward. Everything from antibody research to political science projects, the OSC is chugging along.

Alan Chalker, Director of Strategic Programs, weighed in.

“Within the first day or two after we got the directive to stay at home, we pivoted from ‘We have to stay at home but it’s only going to be a week or two,’ to ‘Oh, this might be a lot longer than that and it’s really escalating… We’re a resource for the public good, and the state and country are in crisis, so we immediately started having conversations with our peers and others asking how we can offer support. We quickly blasted out a message on every possible channel saying, ‘We are willing to provide extraordinary support to anything related to COVID-19.’”

Chalker stated their goal was to use the Center’s impressive technology to help anyone who was prioritizing the public good over finances and typical operations to help solve the crisis.

Chalker said the Center’s help has been immediately evident. In just one example, a researcher asked the OSC for help on a Friday, was granted immediate access and developed a new version of a curve graph with additional scenarios for use in a Gov. Mike DeWine press conference the following Tuesday. That kind of quick progress isn’t an everyday occurrence for the OSC, and Chalker said it’s one of the most exciting parts of their help in the fight against COVID-19.